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Christmas is all about traditions, and I love how every family develops their own quirky traditions for the holidays.

Every household is probably a little bit different, whether you watch “A Christmas Story” five million times in a row, sit around the fireplace reading about the birth of Jesus or spend time in the kitchen, baking cookies to put out for Santa.

You might open presents on Christmas Eve like my family, but I can bet that your dad doesn’t serenade you with “Frosty the Snowman!” (The only song he happens to remember how to play on the accordion!)

The much-anticipated Christmas morning doesn’t escape tradition either. Maybe the smells of homemade cinnamon rolls remind you of waking up on Christmas morning, eager to open presents, or maybe your family always cooks up something to take to Grandma’s for Christmas brunch.

Monkey bread is a perfect tradition to adopt for Christmas, so I dug out this easy recipe from my mom’s recipe box. The ooey gooey cinnamon/sugar bread comes in bite-sized pieces you can pick at until you can’t stuff in one more piece! It’s making my tummy grumble just thinking about it!

If you’re looking for something a little less sweet, be sure to try this egg strata recipe. It’s one of my favorites when it comes to breakfast casseroles, and it will feed a lot if you’ve got a household of company. (And you can throw it together the day before!)

The recipe actually comes from Holyoke’s centennial 1988 recipe book, submitted by Lois Schlachter. She said it was always used for the senior class breakfast, so it must be really good! The recipe calls for ham, but you can use any kind of breakfast meat that you like.